Fostering sustainable development through climate action: what should the future UN mechanism look like?

Carbon Market Watch calls for the Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM) to depart from the 'pure offsetting' approach of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), citing a European Commission study that found 85% of CDM projects unlikely to deliver real emission reductions. The author argues the SDM should instead function as a tool for results-based finance and actively contribute to the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) through transformational change and robust stakeholder participation.

• The Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM) must represent a radical shift from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) because the CDM's approach of 'pure offsetting'—where reductions in developing countries compensated for emissions increases in developed countries—is unsuitable for a world where all countries have mitigation targets.
• A European Commission study indicates that the majority of CDM projects and their potential credit supply between 2013 and 2020 are unlikely to provide 'real, measurable and additional' emission reductions, which can lead to an overall increase in global emissions.
• To fulfill its dual mandate, the SDM should be used as a tool for results-based finance and must monitor and report sustainable development benefits that contribute to the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs), including avoiding fossil fuel lock-in and establishing grievance processes.

APA

Voigt, J. (2017). Fostering sustainable development through climate action: what should the future UN mechanism look like? Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2017/04/27/fostering-sustainable-development-through-climate-action-what-should-the-future-un-mechanism-look-like/

Chicago

Voigt, Juliane. Fostering sustainable development through climate action: what should the future UN mechanism look like? Carbon Market Watch, 2017. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2017/04/27/fostering-sustainable-development-through-climate-action-what-should-the-future-un-mechanism-look-like/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Voigt |first1=Juliane |title=Fostering sustainable development through climate action: what should the future UN mechanism look like? |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=27 April 2017 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2017/04/27/fostering-sustainable-development-through-climate-action-what-should-the-future-un-mechanism-look-like/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{voigt2017fostering, author = {Voigt, Juliane}, title = {{Fostering sustainable development through climate action: what should the future UN mechanism look like?}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2017}, month = apr, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2017/04/27/fostering-sustainable-development-through-climate-action-what-should-the-future-un-mechanism-look-like/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }